Rep. Davis says he missed budget vote for speech at alma mater

December 13, 2013|By Katherine Skiba | Tribune reporter

WASHINGTON — House Democrat Danny Davis missed Thursday’s vote on the budget compromise because he was en route to deliver a commencement address at his alma mater in Arkansas, his spokesman Ira Cohen said today.

Cohen said that although the Chicago lawmaker missed the vote, he supported the budget deal. Davis cast three votes earlier Thursday, then skipped the last two of the day, records show. House members left town for the holidays after Thursday’s votes and are not due back until Jan. 7. The budget deal, which passed 332-94, now moves to the Senate.

Davis, 72, has served in the House since 1997. His district takes in parts of downtown Chicago, the West Side and some western suburbs.

A native of Parkdale, Ark., he had long-standing plans to deliver the commencement speech at today’s 10 a.m. graduation at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Cohen said. When the lawmaker graduated, the school was known as Arkansas A.M. & N. College.

Today Cohen released a statement setting out the rationale for the congressman’s support of the budget deal. The statement said Davis supported the compromise because Washington has plagued by debilitating budget battles and the deal marked a step “toward a more stable and bipartisan legislature that can actually govern.”

In the statement, Davis said he was pleased mandatory spending on Social Security and Medicare remained intact and cuts were balanced between defense and other programs. He also expressed his disappointment the deal did not extend emergency jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed.